To be upset with teachers?

[NoChocolateThanks]

My DS (Y1) came from school today and told me'Mum,you forgot to pay for 'Beauty and the Beast' '.
The thing is,I didn't forget, it was bugging me for the last week. According to the letter from school, they organised trip for kids to watch spectacle as their current topic is fairy tales. It's in our local theatre and cost £10(it says 'voluntary contribution'),they're going just before Christmas.
I am inclined not to send him as we are financially struggling at the moment, and on the other hand I just feel that the whole outing is totally unnecessary at this time of the year.School knows full well that people in this area are not financially comfortable,yet they feel it's perfectly acceptable to remind the kid that their parent didn't cough up for trip.
Sorry for a rant.

Talk to the school and tell them that you are unable to contribute to the trip on this occasion. No-one will think worse of you, but they will know where they stand regarding the cost of the trip and its viability

OP, if you can't pay then sign the permission slip so your child can go. Nobody, in any school, wants a child missing out because their parents are struggling. That's precisely why the slip is phrased as "voluntary contributions".

Ps, you don't need to explain why you haven't paid. Just send the slip in. If anyone questioned that I'd raise merry hell!

The teacher should NOT be embarrassing children by reminding them that their parents haven't paid for something. That's putting them at risk of bullying from the other children.

It's a voluntary payment, so don't feel pressured to pay if you don't want to. Schools should be more mindful of people's finances and realise that we are not all made of money.

@Imissgmichael

It is most definitely not a jolly for the teacher.

It’s an excuse not to do real teaching.

I took theatre trips to evening perfornces. In my own time. What real teaching should I have been doing then?

In any case, even trips in school time can hardly be classified as some kind of enjoyable respite. Are you ignorant or just a GF?

@Imissgmichael - oooh what do you consider "real teaching"?

Do let us know, once you've combed your hands...

It's considerably more difficult than real teaching, takes way, way more paperwork, responsibility and effort than a lesson in school.

I don't see how anyone with more than half a brain cell cannot possibly realise that and, as such, can only draw my own conclusions.

Honestly, such stupid pride.

@NoChocolateThanks

You say to spend on average £100 a month.
No that’s not a massive spend, but would indicate you can spare a tenner.

You then went on to say that sometimes it’s more like £250 spend a week on groceries.
Which most certainly would indicate you can spare a tenner!!

Oh I meant you say you spend on average *£100 a week*on groceries

@asulmariposa
Parents should be mindful that schools are also not made of money. They’re made of people trying to do their best for our kids.

Some are. Some aren’t.

Pride isn’t stupid at all. Pride gave me determination, self reliance and ultimately independence. But to get to that point, we had a number of very tight years.

When that pride leads to cutting off your nose to spite your face it is stupid! Even more so when it’s your child who is most likely to miss out because of it

It doesn’t sirzy. The op is talking about a £10 contribution to a pantomime trip. I have no problem with paying that but if it was suddenly sprung on me, I would — especially for more than one child.

As a rule, health and finances are private matters. Primary schools are small places and news does leak out - I am wary as I’ve certainly had experience of this and despite the insistence that teachers are only lovely people there to help there are frankly some who aren’t.

"If a parent can't afford £10 for a school trip then then couldn't afford them in the first instance but did so anyway and it's the children that then have to live with the consequences."

What an absolutely disgusting comment.

If you can’t afford to pay for a trip don’t. I teach. Loads of parents either pay nothing or send a token amount. It happens for every trip. I’ll be honest and say I did get a little peeved when a family didn’t pay and then did two weeks in the Caribbean a couple of months later but I kept my thoughts to myself. I have letters from parents exposing their finances and I have had a reply slip simply returned with no money. If you want your kid to go on a trip and can afford it then pay.
If you want your kid to go on a trip and can only afford a portion of the cost then send it what you can.
If you want your kid to go on a trip and can’t afford any of the cost just send in the reply slip.
If you don’t want your child to go the trip just say no.

Organising trips is a lot of work. We really haven’t got time to sit around gossiping about people’s finances. I’ll be too busy checking the medical info, insurance, coach times, staff ratios, risk assessments etc

If you want your kid to go on a trip and can afford the cost but don’t pay, well I have no words for that.

If there is no time to sit around gossiping then why on three different occasions with different teachers did other parents hear about confidential information relating to me/my children?

Primary schools are small places and I learned from that and I withheld information. I certainly would NOT tell a teacher about my finances. Frankly it is my business.

@Imissgmichael Are you primary or secondary? I'm assuming you are, or that you work in a school, seeing as you're so sure about 'real teaching'. Your school obviously doesn't do very good school trips if that's the case!

1. School trips are not a jolly for the teacher. Not sure why so many parents who can’t wait for the end of holidays think that! So many parents struggle taking their own children out of the house for a few days, yet think taking an extra 29 would be fun.

1. £400-£1000 on food a month is an obscene amount. I do wonder how much of that is processed crap, but then again I find the veg and fruit section of my shop to be the most expensive so maybe not. But still, the amount is ridiculously high for a struggling family to maintain.

School trips are not a jolly for the teacher Definitely not. You're on edge the whole time. You do have to watch the performance as well so you can discuss it later.